My first encounter with the “Moonies,” as we called them in the early 1970s, was the case of my hometown mayor’s young son who had run away to join the cult. Later, the boy had to be physically rescued from Moon’s New York compound and de-programmed.
I remember reading about how Mr. Moon would enforce a certain kind of dietary regimen upon his victims that weakened them physically while at the same time dulling their minds and making their wills more pliable and more susceptible to brainwashing — such as accepting their own arranged wedding? (In 1982 a crowd of over 2000 couples took marriage vows before their “messiah” and his wife in Madison Square Garden.) Then, after this mesmerizing period at the indoctrination compound, the victims (all young and zombi-like), were sent out to the highways and byways across America selling candy, flowers, and trinkets. Moon was a talented businessman — and smart (i.e., male followers who were sent out to raise money all dressed alike with suit and tie). His disciples easily outdid the pinked-robed Hari Krishnut solicitors, who were forced to take their musical act to airports. Too, I was told many years ago by a Portuguese fisherman in Gloucester, Massachusetts, that Moon’s North Atlantic fishing fleet (Koreans are expert fishermen) almost put them out of business.
Sun Myung Moon was very clever deceiver. In the west, he targeted political conservatives and shunned leftists. Born in North Korea in 1920, he managed in 1950, after three years in a Communist labor camp, to escape to the South during the Korean War. Due to his personal experience, he most likely incorporated the enemy’s indoctrination techniques into his new religion. His new religion had a staunchly anti-communist platform. I remember well, in the 1980s, there were some excellent videos making the rounds of traditional Catholic organizations and chapels that exposed not only the horrors of communism but the one-world government conspiracy and the evils of the United Nations. It wasn’t until the video ended that the viewers realized, via the credits, that the presentation was produced by the Unification Church of Rev. Moon. Of course none of that material was discovered by Moon, it was garnered from other anti-communist media sources that for decades had made such material available to those who wanted to be informed.
Moon’s religious message was blasphemous: He claimed he was another Messiah, sent by God to complete the work of Jesus, who was crucified before He could have children of His own and establish His kingdom on earth. Moon also promised his “couples” that their children would be sinless. No doubt he also preached the saccharine line of universal brotherhood and world peace. Guru’s all do that; it’s part of the draw. I was surprised to read that the “Unification Church” still has members.
AsiaNews: Thousands of people in tears, visibly mourning, visited today the headquarters of South Korean Unification Church to pay homage and pray for their “messiah”, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon who died September 3 due to complications resulting from pneumonia. Men and women dressed in black thronged the main structure of the Gapyeong complex about 60 km east of Seoul, for the first of 10 days of mourning ahead of the funeral that will be held on September 15. Read more here.
